Story of Streets in Peekskill Topic of March 21 Talk at Van Cortlandtville Historical Society

by Bob Foley

‘On The Street Where You Live’ is the theme of a talk to be presented by Peekskill author and historian John Curran on Saturday, March 21st , at 2 p.m., at The Little Red Schoolhouse, 297 Locust Avenue, Cortlandt Manor. Sponsored by the Van Cortlandtville Historical Society, the program is open free to the public.

Mr. Curran’s talk will focus on his new book—The History of Peekskill, New York Street Names— that he has co-authored with fellow Peekskill native and author John Morabito. The 110-page publication with more than 200 separate street listings with their name origins will be available for sale and signing at the event. Mr. Morabito is presently in Florida and will not be at the talk.

“Everyone lives on a street or roadway, and every street has a name and meaning,” Mr. Curran points out, as he will explain the different details of some of the streets contained in this handy and interesting reference guide. It took Mr. Morabito and Mr. Curran about a year to produce the book, including nine months of research. The book is enhanced with several area maps, graphics and vintage and current photographs.

Mr. Curran notes that this type of book can apply to any community in America or around the world that has street names. “Street names tell the stories of people and places important to a community throughout time. Some street names reveal interesting background stories on why and how they were named,” Mr. Curran says.

The book reveals that Peekskill streets carry the names of eight U.S. Presidents, several of whom were present in and around the city at their respective times in history. Mr. Curran will point out the ties of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Martin Van Buren to the Peekskill area.

He will answer the questions: What is Peekskill’s oldest street? How many city streets are named after Revolutionary War individuals? And, with March being Women’s History Month, how many women have inspired Peekskill street names?

Mr. Curran is a longtime member of the Peekskill Museum where he is a past President and current Trustee. He was the City Historian of Peekskill for almost 20 years, starting in 1994. He is the author of several historical books, including: Peekskill –A Photographic History (part of Arcadia’s Images of America Series) in 2005; Peekskill’s African American History (A Hudson Valley Community’s Untold Story) in 2008; Old Peekskill’s Destruction in the 1960s and 1970s; and Attack at Peekskill by the British in 1777. He is also the author of several novels and screenplays; and composed the narratives and sequences for two historical videos about Peekskill.

A graduate of Peekskill High School, Class of 1963, where he was a classmate and cross-country track teammate of Governor George Pataki, Mr. Curran earned a B.A. Degree in History from Allegheny College. He taught English in Japan for three years, and later back home in the Peekskill area he was a reporter and then editor of The Community Current newspaper and a columnist/writer for The Peekskill Herald.

Co-author John Morabito, who grew up in Peekskill, is also a product of Peekskill High School. He served in the Army during the Vietnam War and later studied literature and writing at City College of San Francisco. That west coast city and the California coast and mountains served as settings for two of his early novels: The Lower Farm and The Upper Lake. When he returned to New York, he married, raised three children and worked for a public utility for 29 years. After retirement in 2007, he resumed his writing career. His book, Dogtown Days, is a colorful rendition of one of Peekskill’s old neighborhoods.

The Little Red Schoolhouse (the venue for the March 21st talk) is located next to Old Saint Peter’s Church and Cemetery at the north end of Locust Avenue, on the hill just south of Oregon Road in theTown of Cortlandt. For more information, visit: www.vancort.net; or call (914) 736-7868.